100 gallon SA/CA Cichlid tank stocking.

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Cichlid_Jim

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 1, 2013
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Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Hi everyone, I have been lurking on this forum for months absorbing the fountain of knowledge provided by the members on this site. Finally setting up a Juwel Rio 400l that's been sat in the ding room empty for months going through several changes. (3D background, then no background, then 3D background then no background and sprayed black). It now has a pair of adult Gold Severums that have spawned once in the 2 weeks they have been in the tank (I bought them as 2 males that a guy had kept since they were grown on fry). I am now looking into tank mate options.

I have in another tank 5 Rainbow cichlids that I have grown to almost adult size that could go in.
I have been offered a 4" Jack Dempsey (Standard) presumed to be male.
I have seen a beautiful pair of Turquoise Severum, would they co-exist?
just to complicate things I love the look of Chocolate Cichlids.

More ore about my tank, it has a huge 30" piece of tangled mangrove root one end and a medium piece the other end, plus 4 assorted size pieces of granite some with concave bases that provide big enough caves for a rainbow cichlid to fit in. There is filtration of 2000lph full of Evolution aqua K1 media with a 2 litre pre filter with the varied density foam. T5HO lighting and sand.

Any advice ice would be very much appreciated.
 
All these options sound plausible, its just going to boil down to the individual fish.
 
Cichlid_Jim said:
Hi everyone, I have been lurking on this forum for months absorbing the fountain of knowledge provided by the members on this site. Finally setting up a Juwel Rio 400l that's been sat in the ding room empty for months going through several changes. (3D background, then no background, then 3D background then no background and sprayed black). It now has a pair of adult Gold Severums that have spawned once in the 2 weeks they have been in the tank (I bought them as 2 males that a guy had kept since they were grown on fry). I am now looking into tank mate options.

I have in another tank 5 Rainbow cichlids that I have grown to almost adult size that could go in.
I have been offered a 4" Jack Dempsey (Standard) presumed to be male.
I have seen a beautiful pair of Turquoise Severum, would they co-exist?
just to complicate things I love the look of Chocolate Cichlids.

More ore about my tank, it has a huge 30" piece of tangled mangrove root one end and a medium piece the other end, plus 4 assorted size pieces of granite some with concave bases that provide big enough caves for a rainbow cichlid to fit in. There is filtration of 2000lph full of Evolution aqua K1 media with a 2 litre pre filter with the varied density foam. T5HO lighting and sand.

Any advice ice would be very much appreciated.
Click to expand...

A 5ft tank with a breeding pair of severums doesn't leave much room for tankmates. And the tank you add will need to be big and super hardy. I have seen a pair of full grown sevs dominate a 6ft 125 gallon. They were kept with several geos and some other sevs, but all those other fish were pressured to the last 2 feet of tank space (not a lot of room).

If you want to add more fish, I would consider rehoming one of the breeding pair. If not, look into Pearsei. They get just as big, are tough enough to stand up to a pair of sevs and aren't overly aggressive.

Rainbow cichlids aren't likely to work. They are much smaller than sevs and would crumble under the aggressiveness of a breeding pair.

Jack Dempsey might work. They are very hardy cichlids and their aggression would allow them to stand up to a breeding pair of sevs.

Another pair of sevs wouldn't work IMO unless you want to divide the tank. Others might say it will work, but unless the two turquoise are also a breeding pair, the chances are slim.


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Mythic Figment said:
A 5ft tank with a breeding pair of severums doesn't leave much room for tankmates. And the tank you add will need to be big and super hardy. I have seen a pair of full grown sevs dominate a 6ft 125 gallon. They were kept with several geos and some other sevs, but all those other fish were pressured to the last 2 feet of tank space (not a lot of room).

If you want to add more fish, I would consider rehoming one of the breeding pair. If not, look into Pearsei. They get just as big, are tough enough to stand up to a pair of sevs and aren't overly aggressive.

Rainbow cichlids aren't likely to work. They are much smaller than sevs and would crumble under the aggressiveness of a breeding pair.

Jack Dempsey might work. They are very hardy cichlids and their aggression would allow them to stand up to a breeding pair of sevs.

Another pair of sevs wouldn't work IMO unless you want to divide the tank. Others might say it will work, but unless the two turquoise are also a breeding pair, the chances are slim.


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Click to expand...

The current pair of Severum have spawned with my largest pair of Rainbows in the tank a Festivum, and 3 4" Blue Acara all we'll as 15 tiger barb (all apart from the Rainbows have been rehomed. The Severum pair were no more aggressive than a breeding pair of Rainbows. They chose a rock smack bang in the centre of the tank and only chased off fish within 6" of the eggs. The other Severums that I have seen are also a breeding pair, so would they work?
 
Cichlid_Jim said:
The current pair of Severum have spawned with my largest pair of Rainbows in the tank a Festivum, and 3 4" Blue Acara all we'll as 15 tiger barb (all apart from the Rainbows have been rehomed. The Severum pair were no more aggressive than a breeding pair of Rainbows. They chose a rock smack bang in the centre of the tank and only chased off fish within 6" of the eggs. The other Severums that I have seen are also a breeding pair, so would they work?
Click to expand...

Well cichlids come in all sorts of personalities. :) Sevs tend to be very defensive of the territory they breed in, so either you got a very mellow pair (rare) or they claimed a small plot of land (also rare). Either way, it works out better for you.

In that case, all your options would be possible. You could leave the tank as is if you keep the rainbows, but I would recommend doing a little redecorating otherwise. The redecorating will vary based on what option you go with. For a large tankmate(s) like the JD or the other sevs, you will want to isolate the current breeding sevs to one end of the tank. All you should have to do is relocate what they decided to breed on to an end. If you get the other pair of sevs, try to find something they would like to breed on (clay pot, slate, or something with a smooth, cleanable surface) and put it on the other end of the tank. Then make a barrier of decor in the center to clearly define each pairs' territories. That should keep them out of each other's hair for the most part. But just be prepared to move someone to a different tank if things go south.


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Mythic Figment said:
Well cichlids come in all sorts of personalities. :) Sevs tend to be very defensive of the territory they breed in, so either you got a very mellow pair (rare) or they claimed a small plot of land (also rare). Either way, it works out better for you.

In that case, all your options would be possible. You could leave the tank as is if you keep the rainbows, but I would recommend doing a little redecorating otherwise. The redecorating will vary based on what option you go with. For a large tankmate(s) like the JD or the other sevs, you will want to isolate the current breeding sevs to one end of the tank. All you should have to do is relocate what they decided to breed on to an end. If you get the other pair of sevs, try to find something they would like to breed on (clay pot, slate, or something with a smooth, cleanable surface) and put it on the other end of the tank. Then make a barrier of decor in the center to clearly define each pairs' territories. That should keep them out of each other's hair for the most part. But just be prepared to move someone to a different tank if things go south.


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, I have collected the other severum and they have spent a week in the same tank and starting to settle in. No aggression shown thus far, the odd little 6" chase by one of the gold severum from their end of the tank. Just removed the bogwood to scrub some loose bits off. I have tried to get pictures of the new severum as I think that they are Belem but can't be 100%, they move too much to focus so I have taken a video. Will add another once tank is fully set up. Barbs are out tomorrow. A mate dumped them on my on Wednesday. http://youtu.be/6Bty1Q6812c
 
Cichlid_Jim said:
Thanks for the advice, I have collected the other severum and they have spent a week in the same tank and starting to settle in. No aggression shown thus far, the odd little 6" chase by one of the gold severum from their end of the tank. Just removed the bogwood to scrub some loose bits off. I have tried to get pictures of the new severum as I think that they are Belem but can't be 100%, they move too much to focus so I have taken a video. Will add another once tank is fully set up. Barbs are out tomorrow. A mate dumped them on my on Wednesday. http://youtu.be/6Bty1Q6812c
Click to expand...

Nice tank. Sounds like you have it under control. I look forward to move videos as time progresses.


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Update I have two pairs of severum now and nothing else. What cichlid would anyone recommend for the bottom? I am considering Rocio Ocotal the smaller (6") less aggressive green dempsey that is starting to pop up. Just unsure.
 
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